Podcast and Blog Stats for 2016: Most Popular, Most Downloaded, and Other Oddities

I haven’t done one of these posts in a while, but after randomly looking at our download figures, I got the bug to share what has been popular on this podcast and on the blog. So, with that in mind, the following are a few “top 10” lists of the most popular posts and episodes of 2016 and all time according to our WordPress statistics. I’ve also included a list of our most downloaded episodes of all time using data from our file host, which makes for some curious comparisons.

Enjoy!

The 10 Most Popular Episodes of 2016

1. 304. Scott Lynch and Elizabeth Bear
2. #50. Ghostbusters (2016)
3. 292. Fantasy and Worldbuilding w/ Helen Lowe, Kate Elliott and Courtney Schafer
4. Thrawn and On and On #01. Heir to the Empire by Timothy Zahn
5. 288. Barbarella (1968) — Torture Cinema
6. 298. Sphere (1998) — Torture Cinema
7. 295. Roundtable Discussion on Novella w/ Eugene Fischer, Fran Wilde, Malka Older, and C.S.E. Cooney
8. 290. We’re Back and Anticipating 2016
9. #43. Deadpool (2016)
10. #46. Babylon 5 (Season 2; Disc 2)

The 10 Most Popular Posts of 2016

1. Metropolis (1927), Feminism, and Influence by Stina Leicht
2. Breaking News:  Peter Jackson to Turn The Silmarillion Into a 14-Movie Epic by Michael J. Martinez
3. Finding Filipinos in Science Fiction and Fantasy by Charles Tan
4. Book Review:  Cuckoo Song by Frances Hardinge (Reviewed by Daniel Haeusser)
5. Ten Post-Apocalyptic Novels Written by Women by Nicolette Stewart
6. A (World) SFF Film Odyssey: Mutant Girls Squad (2010) and Anime’s Excesses by Shaun Duke
7. Book Review:  Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine (Reviewed by Daniel Haeusser)
8. Book Review:  When the Heavens Fall and The Dragon Hunters by Marc Turner (Reviewed by Paul Weimer)
9. Book Review:  Spiderlight by Adrian Tchaikovsky (Reviewed by Paul Weimer)
10. Hardholders, Drives, and GunLuggers — Mad Max: Fury Road and the Apocalypse World RPG by Paul Weimer

Top 10 Most Downloaded Episodes of All Time (According to Our File Host)

1. 285. The Incredible Shrinking Woman (1981) — Torture Cinema
2. 286. Zombies of Mora Tau (1957) — Torture Cinema
3. 263. Rethinking the Hugo Awards w/ TheG, Cora Buhlert, and Jason Snell
4. 247. On the Blogs — Bloggers Discuss Their Roles at LonCon3 w/ Foz Meadows, Patricia Ash, Liz de Jager, Shaun Duke, and Erin Underwood
5. 164. Post-Worldcon/Post-Hugo Thoughts w/ Mike Underwood and Justin Landon
6. #53. Arrival (2016)
7. #24. Sherlock (Season One) w/ Michael J. Martinez
8. 283. An Interview w/ Fran Wilde (On Updraft)
9. 304. Scott Lynch and Elizabeth Bear
10. #52. Rogue One (2016)

This list tells you quite a lot about how much our listener-ship has grown in the last two years. Almost all of the episodes on the above list are from 2015 or later, with only 3 coming from previous years. Weirder still:  three of these episodes were released about one month ago, meaning they managed to sneak up into the top 10 quicker than almost everything else on the list.

There’s a key difference here from the first “Most Popular” list. This list focuses solely on download numbers, most of which come from podcast subscribers of some kind or another. These were not necessarily the most visited “pages,” even if they were the most downloaded. There’s also a good chance that general “plays” aren’t necessarily counted accurately in our download numbers. It’s kind of weird.

Top 10 Most Popular Posts of All Time

1. Breaking News:  Peter Jackson to Turn The Silmarillion Into a 14-Movie Epic by Michael J. Martinez
2. The Mysterious Appeal of Tintin by Jonathan Wood
3. Metropolis (1927), Feminism, and Influence by Stina Leicht
4. A (World) SFF Film Odyssey: Mutant Girls Squad (2010) and Anime’s Excesses by Shaun Duke
5. My Superpower:  E.C. Ambrose on Elisha Rex
6. Ten Post-Apocalyptic Novels Written by Women by Nicolette Stewart
7. When Calls for Diversity Are Not Enough by Charles Tan
8. Secret Option C: A More Inclusive World Fantasy Award Statue Isn’t a Person at All by Carrie Cuinn
9. Finding Filipinos in Science Fiction and Fantasy by Charles Tan
10. Book Review:  Cuckoo Song by Frances Hardinge (Reviewed by Daniel Haeusser)

I’m actually rather amused by what has stayed at the top of this list. Clearly, we need to have Mr. Martinez write for us more often!

Top 10 Viewing Countries of All Time

1. United States
2. United Kingdom
3. Canada
4. Australia
5. Germany
6. France
7. Serbia
8. Brazil
9. Philippines
10. India

Fun fact:  we’ve had visitors from almost every country on the globe!

So, there you have it. What were your favorite things on this website? What episodes or posts did you love the most? Let us know in the comments!